Which Truck Is Most Likely to Get Discontinued Next?

The truck market has always been full of stiff competition, where some brands struggle to keep up with others’ enormous sales-volume. Some trucks are certainly more popular than others, but with so many things changing within the truck segment, which truck is most likely to be discontinued next?

Behind an automaker’s decision to discontinue a truck

Vehicles come and go as new models are produced and others are discontinued. According to Autotrader, a variety of factors can go into an automaker’s decision to discontinue a vehicle, including the decision to replace current vehicles with a new one, as well as a shift in popularity or taste.

But when it comes to the truck segment, little changes. Truck owners are most likely to be brand-loyal and value function and performance over all else. This leads to stiff competition in the truck market, where some brands reign and others struggle.

It should come as no surprise that Ford and Chevrolet have always sold more trucks than any other automaker. Battling right alongside those two giants are Ram and GMC, while others simply try to keep up with matching the big dogs’ brand-loyalty and truck sales.

Trying to compete with these truck brands can be difficult, leaving automakers like Nissan, Honda, and Toyota trailing far behind. And with a more difficult road to reaching high sales, it’s easy to see why low sales-comparisons can lead to the discontinuation of a truck. After all, making a truck that won’t sell doesn’t seem worth it.

Where Nissan’s sales stand among the competition

According to Good Car Bad Car, Ford sold almost 1 million F-Series trucks in 2018. Chevrolet and Ram trailed closely behind, selling nearly 590,000 Silverados and 540,000 Ram pickups.

It seems Nissan is going all-in with the new Titan, streamlining and focusing on revving up sales as much as possible. But is the refresh going to be enough to save the Titan from discontinuation?

Focusing on the small niche of Titan buyers, Nissan is minimizing trim variety and available body configurations for the 2020 Titan. The 2020 Nissan Titan is receiving some much-needed updates, including “improvements to the powertrain, chassis, technology, safety, styling, and more,” according to Cars.com. But regardless of improvements, it’s still doubtful that the Titan will match the popularity and sales of top-selling truck brands.

In fact, Car and Driver claim that regardless of improvements to the Titan, Nissan’s “most popular competitors have evolved into even better alternatives.” Only time will tell if the Titan’s refresh will be enough to save it from being the next discontinued truck.